Starting your own web hosting business can be a rather lucrative business idea. Internet is becoming much more affordable and, since almost everybody needs a website now, the whole hosting niche is constantly growing. It can be especially beneficial if you are already working in the IT field, like a web developer or designer.
Sure, it is possible to start your own web hosting company from scratch, but this will require a lot of initial investment that most start-up businesses simply can’t afford. If you need something more affordable, then reseller hosting will work the best – all you need is to choose the right provider and services that will meet your needs to the fullest. The main challenge here is to decide whether to go with Linux or Windows-based solutions. I’d like to highlight main differences between them both to help you make the most deliberate choice.
Linux vs Windows Hosting
Linux OS is widely used for web hosting. The Apache server, which runs on Linux, is very popular with over than 60% of world websites and applications hosted on it. This happens, mainly, because Linux hosting platform is open source and providers don’t have to pay any fees for using it. Windows Server is not free and requires some additional investments in the license purchase.
The difference in accessing the server is smaller – both types offer FTP access to files. Linux hosting usually has Telnet and SSH support in addition. CGI and Perl are used on both Windows and Linux. Creating your pages is also quite similar – HTML and Javascript are supported on both systems. The difference is in the FrontPage extension that is used mostly on Windows servers.
Server-side scripts also differ – PHP is mostly used on Linux, while ASP is a Windows-based feature. These development tools are virtually the most important difference in both systems. There is a possibility to run PHP on Windows, but it needs emulation and Perl scripts usage, so if you need true PHP this won’t be an option. There are scripts that can be used on both, though, such as ColdFusion. The next things worth mentioning are databases. The most popular are MySQL and MS SQL. Though MySQL can be used on the Windows platform as well, it is usually much more typical with Linux.
When speaking about security, it is widely considered that Linux is more protected. Though it may be true in most cases, the main reason for security breaches is poor system administration. So, if administrators are professionals, the operating system of your server won’t really matter.
As you can see now, the main difference between Linux and Windows hosting for reselling is in provided development tools. Linux works better as a data sheet format with enquiry forms, e-commerce, etc. On the other hand, Windows works better with searchable databases offering reduced development time and advanced functionality. The cost is also an issue, since there are many open-source applications for Linux, while Windows-based ones, in most cases, will be licensed and require additional investments. There are some other reasons to choose Windows, though: exclusive Microsoft technologies.
When choosing Linux or Windows hosting try to figure out what you really need – finally the advantages of one will outweigh another. Did I miss something? Don’t hesitate to leave your comments below.
Author’s Bio: James Manner is a marketing and PR manager at Premium Reseller, a well-known provider of reseller hosting services on Linux and Windows OS.
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